Donald Trump attempted to brand his opponents as "insurrectionists" only hours before campaigning in Pennslyvania for GOP nominee for governor Doug Mastriano — an election denier who paid for buses to travel to D.C. for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Unable to use Twitter after his account was permanently suspended to prevent further incitement of violence, Trump took to Truth Social to hype his rally for Mastriano and GOP Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz.
"Big crowd in Pennsylvania," Trump posted. "Will be there soon."
Seven minutes later, Trump posted, "Take back our country from the insurrectionists and lunatics that want to destroy it."
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Trump's comments come as he continues to spread his "big lie" about the 2020 election and only days after he suggested he would consider pardoning those convicted of crimes during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Mastriano, as a state Senator, was one of the leaders of the effort to overturn the 2020 election in Pennsylvania, which was won by Joe Biden.
In June, WITF documented how Mastriano promoted election lies during Trump's unsuccessful coup attempt.
"Mastriano repeatedly supported Trump’s election-fraud lies, including staging a policy committee meeting in November 2020 that gave Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani — and Trump, who called into the meeting — a platform for disinformation," WITF reported. "Mastriano spent over $3,000 to bus over 100 Trump supporters to D.C. on Jan. 6. During the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Mastriano was seen crossing police barricades."
Mastriano refused to answer any questions during his deposition with the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"Mastriano directly communicated with a Trump-sympathetic DOJ official about his false election fraud claims, which he also spread to his tens of thousands of social media followers," WITF reported. "In the 64 days between Election Day and Jan. 6, he posted debunked disinformation on his Facebook page more than 100 times. Mastriano led the effort in the Pa. General Assembly to call for a partisan audit of the 2020 Election, despite no widespread voter fraud being detected."
Mastriano, who was re-elected during the same election Trump lost, claims his victory was legitimate.
